Robert Christopher Tytler


Robert Christopher Tytler and his wife Harriet were famous for their accounts and photographs of the Indian Mutiny.

Tytler joined the Bengal army in 1834 while still in England, and arrived in India in 1835 to join his father's regiment, the 34th Native Bengal Infantry. He saw many years of active military service in India, and in 1842 he was promoted to baggage-master. He later became interpreter and quartermaster and took part in the actions of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839'42).

In the first Anglo-Sikh War (1845'46), Tytler was put in charge of the campaign funds, and subsequently moved all over northern India with his regiment. In May 1857, at the beginning of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Tytler was present when the sepoys of his own unit mutinied against their British officers at Delhi, where he later played a conspicuous part in the ensuing siege. He and his wife were among the important photographers present in the aftermath of Indian Mutiny of 1857, which included Felice Beato and Charles Shepard, during the time he took the notable last image of last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II. He was eventually promoted to Colonel and appointed officiating Superintendent of the Convict Settlement at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands from April 1862 to February 1864.

His first wife, Isabella, died aged 21 in 1847. In the following year on Tytler married Harriet Christina Earle (3 October 1828 ' 24 November 1907), daughter of an officer in the 3rd Bengal Native Infantry. She had an interest in photography, which she learnt from Dr John Murray and Felice Beato.[4] Today Tytler and his wife are remembered mostly for their photographic work. Together they produced about 300 photographs, some of which formed large panoramas.[5] Harriet wrote several memoirs when she was between 75 and 77 years old (1903-6). These include An Englishwoman in India; the memoirs of Harriet Tytler 1828-1858 first published in Chambers Journal in 1931 and a more detailed version published in 1986 by Oxford University Press.


Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administrators


Armed Forces | Art and Culture | Articles | Biographies | Colonies | Discussion | Glossary | Home | Library | Links | Map Room | Sources and Media | Science and Technology | Search | Student Zone | Timelines | TV & Film | Wargames


by Stephen Luscombe